Deliver Us
by Zephyr Borealis
Summary: One day, a band of pony pilgrims is captured by the Fair Folk, who enslave them as revenge against their ruler. The ponies' only hope is Spike, who must traverse the desert and deliver his friends back home.


The sun beat down mercilessly on the desert city, not that the Fair Folk noticed. It was a beautiful city, built from beautiful stone slabs and elaborately painted. The humanoid people who lived there were beautiful, garbed beautifully and fed with the most luxurious of food and drink. They wanted for nothing.

Their slaves, however, wanted for everything. Captured on pilgrimage, they were the forces behind the city, from the mines to the brick-making to the cooking, cleaning, and fixing. They were worked long into the day to such a degree that their strongest could barely stand when he was relieved of duty. Every day, they raised their eyes to the sun and said aloud two simple supplications.

God help us. Celestia find us.

"MOVE!"

The whip cracked across the back of a red stallion pulling a block of stone, who grimaced and shook it off. It was nothing to worry about now. Big Macintosh had gotten used to the pain and the work the fastest. Thus, he was the spokespony for the Equestrians. It wasn't a particularly grand position: it just meant that on a good day he had the best chance of convincing their captors to let up. Sadly, good days were few and far between.

A loud whistle sounded across the sands, and several mares and fillies came forward bearing food and water. A purple mare brought Big Macintosh a flavorless loaf of bread and some murky water. Big Macintosh looked at his first team of the day. Two had passed out, but they were probably going to recover. Otherwise, the group was just dehydrated.

"Alright," Big Macintosh called out, "Team 3, switch out. Team 4, make sure your harnesses are secure before you start pulli..."

"Ah!"

Big Mac whipped his head around. Laying on her side was a very scarred pink filly, empty buckets yoked to her and water spilled out into the sand. Diamond Tiara shakily pulled herself back onto her hooves, but a guard had already noticed and was moving towards her. She noticed and backed away, but a spell from the guard weighed her hooves down so that she was immobilized. She struggled against the spell, then quivered as the guard drew his knife. The guard's knife rose and fell.

He missed because a tan stallion leapt onto the guard with a yell, throwing the guard off-balance and dropping him to the ground. The guard rolled aside and stabbed Filthy Rich in the chest. The stallion slumped instantly. The guard looked at the filly, removed his spell, and walked away. When the guard was far enough away, Diamond Tiara ran forward to her father, shaking him several times. Eventually she stopped, hunched over his body, and began to cry. An orange stallion walked up to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. Eventually, she rose and walked away with him, tears still falling.

Hidden far away in a dark kitchen were the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony. The purple winged unicorn had drawn out a plan of the city as well as six arrows on a tabletop. The other five were laden with heavy bags. "Alright, ponies, I don't know if we're going to live past this. Just…"

The orange pony raised her hoof. "We know. We're doing this anyways."

The other ponies solemnly nodded.

Twilight turned to a purple baby dragon. "You ready?"

Spike nodded. "Yeah."

Twilight turned back to the other ponies. "Alright, let's do this."

The guards first noticed Rainbow Dash running along the rooftops. She was brought down with a knife to the shoulder. Fluttershy was cornered on the ground. Pinkie Pie was caught in a net and Applejack was incapacitated by a dagger slash to the legs. Finally, Rarity was turned around and lassoed. Now the five were trapped in the dungeon.

None of the guards noticed the two leaving through the drainage system.

The two came out of a drain near the river. "OK, Spike," Twilight said, "I've packed enough to last you until you get to the first mining camp. Then, however, you're..."

Twilight stopped. Spike looked up from the basket in the reeds. "Twilight?"

Twilight shook her head. "It's OK, it's just…" she sighed. "I wish I could fit in the basket."

Spike walked over to Twilight. "It'll be alright. I can do this."

"I know. I'm sorry, Spike. You've had to face King Sombra after all. Just, this is the first time I've sent you into a situation like this alone." She placed a hoof under his chin. "You know, you've always been like a…"

Spike placed a hand on her cheek. "I know." Spike pulled her into a hug. "I'll be back, I promise."

Twilight squeezed him. "I love you, Spike. Be careful."

"You too."

The two released. Spike walked over to the basket and hopped in. Twilight pushed the basket into the river. The two shared a final wave before Spike pulled the lid on over himself and Twilight forced herself to climb back into the drain.

A few minutes later, the basket had drifted into a harbor. Spike peeked out from under the lid, then pulled out a small oar and started rowing towards one of the boats. As he got in close, he pulled out a small chisel with a rope attached to it and pulled his arm back.

An oar smacked Spike on the head, sending Spike into the water and knocking the basket over . Spike quickly tried to grab everything and shove it back into the basket, but the opening was too big. Then Spike smacked himself on the head and righted the basket close to the boat so that the oars wouldn't knock it over. Then he started grabbing things and dropping them into the basket. However, after one trip, Spike noticed the oars moving.

He looked quickly down into the depths. Thankfully, the chisel was tied to the basket, so Spike just had to grab the rope and pull the chisel up. Several seconds later and the boat was almost out of range. Spike just barely broke the surface of the water and jabbed the chisel into the boat's keel. He then grabbed onto the basket and pulled himself in, pulling the lid back on top of himself.

He'd lost most of his food as well as his protection from the sun, but he figured he could find replacements at the mining camp. The map was still alright, and that was what mattered. He hugged it. "It's alright, guys," he whispered. "I'll make it."

Twilight was found two minutes later, laiden with a pack like the others. Like the others, she was taken into the dungeon. On the way, though, a grey pegasus mare looked up at her, and Twilight nodded. The pegasus nodded back, and a little purple dragon was the subject of everypony's prayers that night.


End file.
